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Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce Fact Briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

Wisconsin’s average age is slightly higher than the national average age. 

According to data from the Wisconsin Department of Health, which shows the average of ages between 2019 and 2023, the most recent data available, the national average is 38.7. 

In Wisconsin, the average age is 40.1 for the same time period.

Those numbers reflect the rapidly aging baby boomer generation, which is skewing Wisconsin’s population to individuals over 65, according to Wisconsin Public Radio.

Between 2010 and 2020, this demographic grew from 777,000 people to more than 1 million and is projected to expand to 1.3 million by 2030. Meanwhile, the working-age demographic in the state is holding steady, meaning that the population of those over 65 is growing as a percentage of the total.

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Laura Schulte has covered state government and politics for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel since 2020. Schulte has reported on state agencies, state legislative sessions and campaigns and was on the ground for the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Before joining the Journal Sentinel, she covered business and local government at the Wausau Daily Herald. An Indiana native, Schulte graduated from the Indiana University Media School.